Although studies of religion often us the phrase "myth
and ritual," I prefer to think in terms of "foundational
stories" and ritual. Foundational stories are the basic stories of a religious
tradition. In Christianity, the foundational story is the life,
death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Consequently, the
Eucharist or Lord's Supper is the primary ritual of reenactment in
Christianity. In Judaism, the
foundational story is the story of the Passover: the deliverance of
Israel from captivity in Egypt. This foundational story is presented in
the rituals of Passover each year. Foundational stories of Islam include
the stories of Abraham and Muhammad. The significant events in the
founding of Islam are primarily reenacted in the hajj - the pilgrimage
to Mecca.

In class, we viewed the video "Inside Mecca" in
order to understand the components of rituals of re-enactment.
If you missed the video, or want to review the elements of the
hajj visit Virtual
Hajj to find out.

The Hajj as a Ritual of Reenactment

The Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of
Islam. These "pillars" are the fundamental requirements
that every Muslim is expected to follow. One of the
requirements is that every Muslim who is able must make a
pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca at least once in his or her life. Why
Mecca? Mecca is the city in Saudi Arabia that was the birthplace
of Muhammad and the site of many of the foundational events of
Islam. Islam teaches that Abraham, the father of their faith, and
his son Ishmael lived in and around the area of Mecca. It was in
this place that Ishmael's mother, Hagar desperately sought water to keep
her child from dying of thirst. It was in Mecca that Abraham built
a place of worship to the one true God. It was in this area that
Abraham showed his acceptance of God's will by his willingness to offer
his son as a sacrifice.

Through a variety of complex actions, the Hajj reenacts these and
other foundational events. Carefully work through the Virtual Hajj
website and note how this complex series of rituals serves to build
community, continuity and, more importantly, to transport the pilgrims
to the timeless realm of the sacred.

You should notice three components to rituals of reenactment:

1. The rituals are based on an an original event. The original
event serves as a model for a ritual. Usually, it is the original event
that is told in the foundational stories ("myths") or a religion. Ritual
studies refer to the original event as the archetype.

2. Rituals of reenactment imitate the archetype: Ritual studies refer to this imitation as mimesis:
imitation or reenactment. Thus, the Passover imitates the events of the
deliverance from Egypt, the Eucharist imitates the meal that Jesus shared
with his disciples the night before his death and the events of the Hajj
imitate various events from the life of Muhammad and Abraham.

3. Rituals of reenactments involve participants to allow them to
re-experience for themselves the events of the foundational stories
of each tradition. The term used to describe the purpose of rituals of
re-enactment is anamnesis: a remembering that makes the original
event present to the believer. In this sense, ritual negates
time and space. As one writer expressed it: On Easter, Christians sing,
"Christ the Lord is Risen today;" they never sing "Christ the Lord
arose nearly 2,000 years ago in a far off country." In a
similar manner, the Passover is not something that merely happened
thousands of years ago; rather it happens on "this night." The
Passover seder begins with the questions "How is thisnight different from all other nights?" Ritual thus
brings the believer into the timeless realm of the sacred in which
the time and space that separates the participant from the original
event disappear. Those who celebrate the Passover are not just
remembering that their ancestors came out of Egypt, they are experiencing
their own deliverance from bondage. When Christians celebrate the
Eucharist, they do not simply remember the sacrificial death of Jesus;
they also experience what that death means for them today. Muslims who
participate in the Hajj are not simply remembering how Abraham struggled
to be faithful; they find new strength in their own struggle to be
faithful.

Anamnesis is not simply remembering the past, however. It is
often the case that the future is "remembered." Each of the
foundational events in some way alludes to a future event that is
connected to the realm of the sacred. For example, in the hajj, the
days of standing together is meant to make present the future reality of
the day of judgment. In the Eucharist, most traditions make
reference to the return of Christ or the "heavenly banquet" in the Kingdom
of God. Finally, in the Passover Seder, many traditions make reference to
the coming of Elijah the prophet to usher in the Messianic age. Many
traditions still end the seder with the saying "Next year in Jerusalem."

The following table uses the events of the
hajj to illustrate the relationship between anamnesis and mimesis:

Imitating Action (mimesis)

Archetypal event being imitated

Anamnesis: Experience of the event in present

Tawaf: Walking around the Kabah, the
house of worship believed to have been built by Abraham

Abraham who also worshiped in this way.

Experience placing Allah's house at the center of one's life.

Sa'y: walking quickly between two hills and
drinking from well

Hagar who ran between these two hills in search of water,

Experience "the effort required in a person's
search for salvation."

Drinking from the Zamzam well

Hagar and Ishmael experience the miracle of water in the
midst of the dry desert

"Each pilgrim sips from its water as a reminder of
the real results of spiritual effort and to be connected with the
foundations of a religious tradition that emphasizes the worship of one
God."

Yawm al-Wakuf: Day of Standing together

Adam and Eve's reunion after being expelled from
Garden of Eden. Here they were instructed in how to live.

Site of Muhammad's last sermon

Experience of forgiveness, examination of one's own
life - the Last Judgment.

The Stoning: Pilgrims pass by three pillars and
cast stones at cast stones at them

Abraham withstands Satan's temptation three times

"This athletic activity engages each pilgrim,
physically and symbolically, in resisting temptation and warding off
wrong."